Exam 7: Learning and Conditioning

What major modification to behaviourism did Dollard and Miller propose in the 1940s and 1950s? Describe the social-learning theories that were in full bloom in the 1960s and the 1970s. What did Albert Bandura and his colleagues illustrate through their studies in which children watched films of an adult kicking, punching, and hammering on a big rubber doll?

Behaviourism is the school of psychology that accounts for behaviour in terms of observable acts and events, without references to mental events.

Explain the distinction between primary and secondary punishers.

B. F. Skinner has been called one of the greatest of American psychologists. He also had been called one of the most misunderstood psychologists. Distinguish between the "man" and the "myth," supporting your statements with information from the textbook.

The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response is called:

Patients may generalize the nausea caused by chemotherapy to the place where the therapy takes place. When this occurs, the unconditioned stimulus is:

"Little Albert" was a:

What is actually learned in classical conditioning? The answer varies depending on the theorist's approach. What is actually learned in classical conditioning according to the traditional Pavlovian approach? What is actually learned in classical conditioning according to many contemporary psychologists? How has the imaginative research of Robert Rescorla supported the contemporary view? Describe the support for the contemporary view using the example in the textbook about the employee receiving telephone calls with disastrous outcomes.

Instinctive drift explains why:

In operant conditioning, the word "operant" denotes the idea that behaviour:

Learning is defined as any relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs because of experience, except for changes due to fatigue, injury, or disease.

Learning that is not immediately expressed in performance is called:

When speaking of reinforcers, the words "positive" and "negative" can be thought of as "good" and "bad."

Which of the following is NOT a guideline for behaviour modification?

Kelsey's dad uses a primary reinforcer to strengthen the response she just made. The reinforcing stimulus would be:

Five-year-old Samantha is watching a storm from her window. A huge bolt of lightning is followed by a tremendous thunderclap. Startled, Samantha jumps at the noise. This happens several times. As the storm moves farther away, Samantha jumps at the sight of a lightening bolt but hears the thunder after her jump! In this example, the unconditioned stimulus is the ________ and the conditioned stimulus is the ________.

Describe the different types of reinforcers and punishers. Explain the role that negative reinforcement played in Little Albert's behaviour once he had acquired the fear of the white rat. What difficulties occur when an individual avoids a feared object or situation?

A social-cognitive learning theorist would be more likely to argue that learning involves:

Having a gold star placed on one's spelling quiz would be a secondary reinforcer.

Shaping would be the appropriate operant conditioning procedure if the response that you want to reinforce has almost no probability of appearing spontaneously.